


People, Puppies and Painted Elves

by darkrose



Series: Between the Darkness and the Light [1]
Category: Dragon Age, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Chromatic Character, F/M, Game Playthrough, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-18
Updated: 2011-02-18
Packaged: 2017-10-15 18:10:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/163501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkrose/pseuds/darkrose





	People, Puppies and Painted Elves

Barkspawn was quite sure he'd never understand two-leggers.

When he was at the Big Ruined Stone Place, _elf_ smelled afraid and sad. He'd noticed that some of the humans shouted at them, and generally treated them worse than they did the mabari. But now, his Person was an elf, and she smelled strong, and angry. Sometimes when they went into Crowded Places, the humans were rude to her, which made Barkspawn upset; couldn't they see that she was the Alpha?

At least everyone in their rather odd pack understood how things were supposed to work. All of the females, including the elder who smelled of magic and dust and the younger one with the wolf's eyes who smelled of magic and the Wilds, deferred to her properly. The big not-human had challenged her at first, but she'd growled at him and stabbed him with her sharp hand-fangs, and he'd shown her his throat. Barkspawn had been glad; the big not-human liked to throw the stick, and it would have been disappointing if his Person had been forced to kill him.

Then there was the other elf, the male with the kaddis on his face. He smelled sharp, and sometimes like things that would make you very sick. He'd tried to hurt Barkspawn's Person at first...and then, when she didn't kill him, he started to smell like he wanted to mate with her. Since they were both elves, Barkspawn supposed that made sense, and after they finally _did_ mate, his Person smelled happier--at least, until she was around the Puppy.

For all that he was a two-legger, Barkspawn was convinced that the Puppy was really a mabari who'd imprinted on his Person. He smiled and tried to wag his tail when she gave him things, and he whined and looked at her with huge, hurt eyes when she yelled at him. The Puppy always jumped in front of the Person when they were fighting, and when he got hurt, he worried at it until she threatened to to put the Cone of Shame on him. (Barkspawn thought that was really funny, and was kind of sorry that it didn't happen.) He smelled a little like her, too, and he obviously wanted to mate with her. When she started mating with the elf, the Puppy got very sad, and even when Barkspawn licked his face, it didn't seem to make him feel better.

The strangest part was that his Person smelled like she wanted to mate with the Puppy too, and Barkspawn couldn't understand why they didn't. He wrestled with the problem like a bone, trying to find a way for it to make sense, but he could only conclude that two-leggers, human and elf alike, were just _weird_.

Then the Puppy gave his Person a flower. Barkspawn didn't get why her eyes lit up; it's not like a flower was especially challenging to catch, or good to eat. But when the Puppy pressed his lips on the Person's, she made happy sounds and put her arms around him. They went into her tent, and Barkspawn suspected there was going to be mating.

He looked over at the Painted Elf. Even though Barkspawn had been suspicious of him at first, he was Pack now, and Barkspawn had a responsibility to him. He padded over and snuffled at the Painted Elf, who reached down and scratched behind his ears.

"Ah, my friend...thank you for your concern, truly, but this was inevitable, yes? It was a pleasant diversion, but I am glad that the lovely Warden has followed her heart at last."

There was a definite hint of sadness to his scent, and Barkspawn could tell that the Painted Elf wasn't being entirely truthful. He just licked his face once, comfortingly, and then went back over to lie outside the entrance to his Person's tent.

He wondered if humans and elves could have puppies together. He hoped so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for [this prompt](http://dragonage-kink.livejournal.com/1636.html?thread=2624612) on People of Thedas. The name Barkspawn is from [this Penny Arcade strip](http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/11/06/), which will never not be funny.


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